Making a debut for a new club is a day every player will remember in their career but not everyone’s first game will be a landmark moment for an entire league and break a record before the player has even stepped on the pitch. That is the reality for Ilona Maher as the USA international prepares to play her first game for Bristol on Sunday as she starts from the bench against Gloucester-Hartpury in Premiership Women’s Rugby.
Maher, who is the most followed rugby player on the planet with more than eight million followers across multiple social media platforms, signed for the club last month to become the league’s biggest signing. She has made the move to 15s rugby from sevens in a bid to make the USA squad for the Rugby World Cup, taking place in England later this year.
The 28-year-old’s signing resulted in soaring ticket demand for the match against the defending champions, so much so that the fixture was moved from the women’s side’s usual ground, Shaftesbury Park, to Ashton Gate, home of the men’s team.
The West Country side have now sold more than 8,000 tickets which will see the club’s record PWR crowd – 4,101 for a match against Harlequins – almost double. Maher, who in Paris was part of the first USA team to claim a medal in sevens rugby at an Olympics and went on to become the runner-up on Dancing with the Stars, the American equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, spoke recently about the prospect of making her debut in the derby: “That would be so cool.
“I always have such respect for teams but I never fear playing them. I remember my first basketball coach said: ‘Respect all, fear none.’ I have taken that through. I never fear having to play some of the best teams on the sevens circuit so I think it would be a great opportunity to play the best in Gloucester-Hartpury because I have been keeping up with the PWR for a while and they have been doing so well.”
The PWR chair, Genevieve Shore, said: “Ilona is such an impressive person and, as we have seen, takes on every challenge presented to her in an incredible way. Playing in PWR is her next challenge, alongside many of the game’s superstars, and I think she is going to have a great time with us. One of the great things we love about women’s rugby is that there are some really different characters in the game and that they are allowed to express themselves perhaps more than the male athletes are, so we all have to embrace Ilona’s time with us.”
Sunday’s game, which is a repeat of the 2023-24 final, is a crucial one in terms of Bristol’s season. The club are fifth and six points outside of the top four with seven rounds of the regular season to go. Clubs need to finish in the top four to reach the semi-finals. Harlequins, Exeter, Gloucester and Saracens currently hold those spots.
Despite a need for points and a tough rival, Bristol head into the game with a recent result over Gloucester – they won the reverse fixture 19-14 in November. The Bristol head coach, Dave Ward, says the Gloucester match and their game against Exeter on 12 January are crunch fixtures.
He says that regardless of whether his side win or lose against Gloucester, “we have to win at Exeter. We are going to work a little bit harder than we did last year and next year we are going to work a little bit harder again, trying to work out what teams are going to do against us. As coaches you do have sleepless nights but all you can do is prepare your team as best as you can.
“With a crowd of 8,000 expected, it’s a hugely exciting occasion and we’re hoping to give them something to cheer about. We understand the importance of the game in the context of our season, and the quality of the reigning champions, but we head into the game with confidence and relishing the occasion and the challenge.”
Bristol will not need any more motivation to boost their semi-final chances but must hope to play their superstar signing in more matches. Maher has signed until the end of the season and if the club do not make the top four her final game would be their last regular-season match on 14 February.
